The operation of toy boats has long been a favorite hobby with children as well as with certain adults. The production and sailing of miniature sailboats is one form of this hobby, while the operation of powered miniature or toy boats represents another aspect of the hobby. The present invention pertains to the latter field of the hobby.
There is presently available on the market a variety of different types of powered boats operated, for example, by means of dry cell batteries for purposes of furnishing power to electric motors to which the propellers of the boats are connected. One drawback of using batteries to propel electric motors for this type of boat resides in the fact that the consumption of power by the motors is substantial and, depending upon the frequency of operation of the boat, frequency replacement of such batteries becomes necessary.
One of the principal objects of the present invention is to utilize readily available and effective power means in the form of an elongated elastic band, such as a rubber band of suitable size and power, which is adapted to be twisted until sufficient power is stored therein that, when released, unwinding of the twisted elastic band is adequate to drive the propeller of a boat for a substantial period, due particularly to the friction imposed upon the propeller by the water through which the boat moves. The only renewable aspect of such type of power means being the need to replace the rubber band in the event it becomes broken or worn to such extent that effective use is no longer practical.
Powered toy boats utilizing spring means or twistable elastic means to furnish the power for driving the propeller of the same have been embodied in toy boats previously designed and developed. For example, prior U.S. Pat. No. 1,340,614 to Kingsbury et al, is directed to a toy boat in which a very simple means to drive the propeller is provided in the form of one or more rubber bands adapted to be twisted by means of a manually operable crank connected to the propeller. As is well known, winding a rubber band by means of such a simple crank element is very time consuming in the absence of any ratio increasing mechanism which is absent in the Kingsbury et al structure.
Toy wheeled vehicles also have employed coil spring and rubber band type means to drive an axle of the vehicle to which the drive wheels are connected. By way of example, prior U.S. Pat. No. 1,914,438 to Labin, dated June 20, 1933, shows a coiled tension spring connected at one end to one end of the vehicle and the opposite end is connected to an elongated twisted rod in the form of a helix which is adapted to be pulled from a retracted position within the body of the wheeled toy to an extended position, whereby the spring is placed under substantial tension and, when the twisted rod is released, the spring contracts and pulls the twisted rod non-rotatably through a slot in a gear resembling a ring gear having teeth adjacent the periphery and engageable with a small pinion gear fixed to the axle of the vehicle upon which the drive wheels are mounted. A mechanism is also provided to automatically disconnect the motor from the drive mechanism when the energy of the spring has been extended and thereby permit the vehicle to coast a greater distance than that provided by the driving mechanism.
A vehicle in which a rubber band motor is provided for driving means similar to that of Labin comprises the subject matter of prior U.S. Pat. No. 2,749,660 to Zimenstark, dated June 12, 1956, and in which one end of a rubber band is connected to a ring gear associated with a spur gear on the driving axle of the vehicle and the other end of the rubber band is connected to a loop on a shaft adapted to be rotated by means of a hand-operated key element inserted through the forward end of the vehicle and, as in the patent of Kingsbury et al, very slow rotation of the rubber band can be effected.
The most pertinent known prior art to the present invention comprises a British patent, No. 477,769 to Lobb, dated Jan. 3, 1938, and pertaining to a toy boat in which an elongated rubber band is disposed in a manner to drive the propeller by means of a spirally twisted elongated member mounted for rotation about a fixed axis and along which a coengaging nut can be pulled by an elongated rod in one direction to operate gearing that drives a small shaft to which one end of the rubber band is connected. When the elongated rod is moved in the opposite direction, a clutch is operated to permit such opposite movement of the rod without unwinding the partially or fully wound rubber band due to the provision of a pivoted lever comprising a stop means to engage a large diameter gear wheel of the gear train and prevent rotation thereof.